Combine



t May 24, 1932. R, 5. WALTERS 1,859,759

COMBINE Filed March 17, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l1 ILS. Walk/'s May 24, 1932-V R. s. wALTRs COMBINE `Filed March 17, 1930 2 .Sheets-Sheet 2 wwlmwmlm,

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Patented May 24, 1932 i UNITED STATES PATENT orricr:

RALPH S. WALTERS, OF GRANT, NEBRASKA COMBINE Application led March 17, 1930. Serial No. 436,611.

My invention relates to combines, its primeans of guide members 16 which permit mary object being the provision of a rearvertical movements of the cutter frame 15 ranged and reorganized structure which is relative to the truck. The cutter frame 15 l adapted to be attached to and detached from projects forwardly from the truck so that no ".5 a truck frame, standing grain is knocked down by the truck Another object of my invention is the prowheels passing through the grain. The vision of a combine which may be seated on truck wheels all follow the cutting mechaany of the trucks ordinarily used and which nism and there-fore crush only the standing may be easily removed from the truck. straw from which the grain has been rel0 Another of my objects is the provision of moved. 6o a combine structure in which the members At one of the sides of the cutter frame 15, are rearranged in position and so assembled preferably at .the lefthand side, is a conas to result in a balance on the truck. veyor frame 17. ThisA frame, as best shown Another of my objects is the provision of in Figure 2, is first horizontal and then rear- ?7'15 a combine which is complete in all respects wardly and upwardly inclined. It carries 65 except for the wheel support. an endless belt 18 which first carries the cut Another of my objects is the provision of grain rearwardly in a horizontal direction the combine assembly in which the harvesting and then rearwardly and upwardly. The and thrashing mechanism is operated by the endless belt 18 passes over front and rear *1F20 power plant which is part of the combine rollers 19 and 20 respectively and it is guided 7o assembly. into its inclined course by means of the idle Another of my objects is the provision of rollers 21. The grain carried upwardly by a combine assembly which is compact and the conveyor 18 is delivered to the transverse which when removed from the truck -supchute 22. port may readily be stored within a small The cut grain which consists largely of the 75 spacein a machine or tool shed. unshelled heads of grain is carried toward Having in view these objects and others the right in the chute 22 until its direction is which will be pointed out in the following altered in the extension 23 of the chute 22. In description, I will now refer to the drawthe rearward movement of the grain through 30 ings, in which the chute extension 23 it first encounters the 80 Figure 1 is a plan View of the truck frame beater 241 which evenly distributes the grain with my combine attached thereto7 a portion heads in a transverse direction. The grain is being broken away to disclose interior strucfed by the beater to the cylinder 25 which coture and housings generally omitted which operates with the concave 26. A portion of V35 would hide essential structure. the thrashed grain falls into the cleaning shoe 85 Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of the or cha-flier 27 directly from the concave 26. truck and of the combine attachment. Most of the grain and practically all of the Figure 3 is a broken view in partial perchaff are forced rearwardly from the cylinspective of the blower. der 25 into the rotating screen 28. This screen 540 Figure 4 is a view in rear elevation of the has a relatively slow movement and it is pro- 90 discharge tube from the blower. vided on its inner side with a spiral guide 29 The truck has the usual rectangular frame which carries the grain and chai rearwardly 10 mounted on front wheels 11 and on rear but which allows t-he grain to fall through wheels 12. The combine includes cutting into the cleaning shoe or cha-Eer 27. rlhe t5 mechanism 13 in front of a slatted belt concylindrical screen 28 rests on a shaft 30 which 95 veyor 14 on a cutter frame 15. The cutter slowly turns the screen. frame 15 with the cutter 13 and the endless rlhe grain is further cleaned by means of a belt 14 is secured to the truck to extend for blast of air from the fan 31 passing through wardly thereof. It is secured to the truck the tube 32.V This tube 32 has a horizontal against forward and lateral movements by pertion extending transversely of the clean- 100 ing shoe anc it creates a blast of air in a rearward direction to force out the straw. From an inspection of Figure 4 it will be noted that the horizontal portion of the tube 32 is provided with a plurality of spaced apertures 33 which increase in size toward its outer end. As the velocity of the air blast decreases toward the outer end of the tube 32, the outlets 33 grow larger in size so that the air is fairly evenly distributed. A p

rllhe cleaning shoe 27 is provided with a transverse channel 34 for seating a spiral conveyor 35. rl`he cleaned grain which gathers in 'the channel 3 is thus conveyed transversely to the elevator 3G which in the present instance is a bucket c'cnveyor. The grain is thus carried into the bin 37 as shown in Figure 1 and the chaff is carried out through the rear end of the cylindrical screen 28.

The cutting mechanism is adjustable so that it will cut the grain at the desired height. is before stated, there are guiding members connecting the truck frame 1() to the cutter frame 15, these guiding members permitting relative vertical movement. The hand operated shaft 38 is secured toa pair of cables which pass through eyes 39 on the truck frame and which are secured to the cutter frame as shown in Figure 1, the eyes 39 5 being at a higher level than the connections between the cables and the cutter frame. By turning the hand wheel 40 the cutter frame 15 may be raised or lowered without tilting the cutter frame.

The truck is propelled by means of its own power plant but the combine mechanism is V`riven from its own engine 41 which is here shown merely in conventional form. The shaft of the engine 4l drives a flywheel 42 and it also drives the fan 31 and the cylinder Q5. The engine shaft is connected through the chain 43 with the shaft 44 of the beater 24. The shaft 44 also drives the shafts 45 and 46. The shaft 45 is connected through t the chain 47 to drive the shaft 30. The shaft 4G drives the elevating conveyor 36. The shaft 45 projects forwardly being provided with two universal ioints 48 from rwhence 1t leads directly to the' left-hand drive roller of 'M- the endless belt 14. rl`he shaft 45 at its forvard end is also geared to drive the forward drive roller of the endless belt 18.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that l have provided a combine assembly of compact form which is readily balanced on a truck. The great advantage of my combine is that the cost of the truck isnot ineluded in the cost of the implement. The season during which a combine is generally used,

` especially by individual farmers, is at most only a few weeks so that it is desirable to reduce the capital investment as much as possible. Most farms are already provided With one or more trucks for hauling farm prod- 5 ucts to market and for bringing supplies and provisions to the farm. Farmers who already own a truck need to invest only in the combine structure as described above in order to be equipped with a complete combine.

The above described structure has the further advantage that itis exceedingly compact, and this advantage is particularly evident during the long period when the implement is not in use. The prior combines are large and bulky and the tendency is to leave them exposed to the elements in the field or farmyard throughout the greater portion of the year. Under such conditions the combine is very short-lived. If not left in the field the combine must be housed but the building cost of housing a large implement is prohibitive. lilith my invention, however, the combine assembly must be removed from the truck after each season of work is over in order to make the truck available for other use. When removed from the truck, the combine 'assembly occupies very little space so that it can be easily stored in a corner of the rrnachineror tool shed with the result thatits life will be very much greater than that of the prior combines.

It is to be understood that the drawings are illustrative merely of the general arrangement of the various parts and that they are not intended to illustrate each and every feature of my combine nor to serve as working plans for enabling the mechanic to build the combine. For example, the housings are omitted ventirely where they would obscure essential features of the Y invention even though these housings may be absolutely essential in the successful operation of the implement. This is particularly true ofthe screen -28 which must be provided with a housin-gin order to prevent the unnecessary waste of gra-in.

Having thus described my invention in such full', clear, fand exact terms that its 'construction and operation 'willbe'readily understood by others skilled in the art to which it pertains, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination, an automobile truck and a harvester attachable to and detachable from said truck as a unit, said harvester including a cutter frame releasably secured to said truck to project forwardly therefrom, a conveyor on said cutter frame for carrying the cut grain laterally, a second conveyor for receiving the cut grain from the first said conveyor and for carrying the cut y@rain rearwardly and upwardly, said second conveyor being positioned to oneside of said truck and spaced therefrom, thrashing mechanism -on the rear portion of said truck, a chute for conducting the cut 'grain from said second conveyor to said thrashing mechanism, a grain bin onA said truck, means for delivering the thrashed grain y to said grain bin, and means' for Adischarging the chaf from said CTI thrashin mechanism during the travel of said truclr. l

2. A combine adapted to be releasably secured to the frame of an automobile truck and to be supported thereby, said combine including a cutter frame projecting forwardly of the automobile truck and a thrashing mechanism adapted to be supported on the rear portion of the platform of the automobile truclr, a conveyor at the side of the automobile truck for conducting the cut grain from said cutter frame to said thrashing mechanism, means for discharging the cha during the travel of the automobile truck, a motor having a drive shaft in alignment with the cylinder shaft of the said thrashing mechanism, and means whereby the rotation of the cylinder shaft of said thrashing mechanism is caused to actuate the cutting mechanism of j.. the said cutting frame, said conveyor and all of the said thrashing mechanism.

In testimony whereof:I I ailiX my signature.

RALPH S. WALTERS. 

